The Odonata of the Forth Area. 91 



be very rare. But likely enough it did occur formerly. 

 Lucas (7), quoting De Selys (6), gives as a locality " near 

 Edinburgh," ^ and I cannot think what the names quoted 

 above can refer to if not to this species. Gomphus vulga- 

 tissiiiius (L.) may have occurred here then, but I hardly 

 think so. 



De Selys (5) in 1846 recorded C. anmdatus from Loch 

 Katrine, in the upper portion of "Forth," and it is still 

 locally common there. In July 1900 (27th and 30th) I 

 captured two on boggy ground behind Aberfoyle; and in 

 1901 a large $ was secured at Loch Ard on 4th June, 

 and several of both sexes at Brig o' Turk in July. In 

 August last a pair were taken at the Trossachs by Mrs 

 Morton. It makes its appearance two or three weeks in 

 advance of the next. 



.ffischna juncea (Linn.). 



? Lihellula grandis, Stewart's List of Edinburgh Insects, 1809. 



? ^shna varia, List of Dollar Insects, 1841, New. Stat. Ace, viii. p. 89. 



Of the larger dragon-flies, this is decidedly the most 

 common in the area, and is the only one which still has 

 many habitats in the district around Edinburgh. Although 

 naturally somewhat local, it is widely distributed throughout 

 "Forth," and while never rare, is more plentiful in some 

 seasons than in others. In 1904, for instance, it was com- 

 moner than I have seen it for a good many years past. 

 When a boy, I knew this fine insect well, in all its stages, 

 in and around the ponds in the grounds of Penicuik House ; 

 and specimens then captured are still in my collection. I 

 have always admired its powerful flight, as it hawked for 

 flies round the margin of some sedge-girt loch or pool, along 

 the bank of a river or a hill-burn, or by the edge of a fir- 

 wood near the moors. It appears rather later in the season 

 than the previous species, August and September being the 



^ De Selys' words in the " Kevue " (6) are: "Commune en Ecosse pres 

 d'Edimbourg et aux environs des grands lacs." In the "Revision" (5), four 

 years earlier, they are : "Scotland. Local. Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine. — 

 Mus. Dr Greville, Blyth, etc." 



